Rebuild, Restart
by stumpomatic
Summary: When Clary Fray's engagement crumbles, the life she was so used to is over and she is left with nothing. This is the story of her rebuilding her life, meeting new and brilliant people and finding the purpose she lacked in her life for so long.
1. A Terrible Night

Hello beautiful people, have a fanfic.

This is my first story that isn't a oneshot so I hope you like it J

Rated T because I don't really know where this story will go just yet, bear with me, ok?

Thanks guys, enjoy! J

**Disclaimer:** Cassandra Clare owns everything, I just make her characters dance.

**A Terrible Night**

It was dark, she was completely miserable and there was only one person that would ever even come close to cheering her up. Magnus Bane was the life and soul of every party worth going to in Brooklyn, and he just so happened to be one of her best friends. She knew it was stupid, to make her way through New York late at night dressed in a beautiful (but now completely useless) dress and the highest of heels, however the need for some company that wasn't going to try and make her talk about the situation was overwhelming.

She arrived at his building thankfully unscathed, though she had been wolf whistled at a peculiarly large number of times. On an ordinary day, she might have taken the time to be insulted, or even secretly pleased, but this was no ordinary day. She buzzed the telecom and let out a whimpered 'It's me,' and before she knew it she was knocking on Magnus' front door, practically breaking her heart.

Before she'd even finished knocking, the door was open and Magnus had enveloped her in a hug.

'Can I make you some tea?' he asked softly into her hair. He knew she was in no state to talk right now, and bombarding her with questions was clearly not going to make her calm down. She nodded in response and he helped her over to the sofa before disappearing into the kitchen.

Magnus walked over to the sofa with two steaming mugs of tea in his hands to find her curled up with his cat, Chairman Meow. Her tears had stopped but she was still shaking, curled in on herself in a protective manner, worrying Magnus further. She sat up to take her tea but her body positioning remained defensive. If he didn't know better, Magnus would've thought she'd been physically wounded.

He sat next to her, unsure whether to hold her or to give her some space. He settled on wrapping an arm around her and letting the other hand rest on her knee. Just as he was contemplating how to ask her what was wrong, she spoke up.

'It's over. Me and Seb. The engagement's off.' No emotion laced her voice nor did an expression cross her face. He expected her to start crying again, but Clary Fray was much too strong for that. She just stayed there staring straight ahead.

Anger boiled in his veins at the mention of the scumbag that had broken one of his dearest friends. It was no secret that Magnus was not a fan of Sebastian Verlac, but there had never been reason for him to properly hate the man. Now, however, he wanted to hunt the man down and, well, use your imagination.

'What did he do?' Magnus' barely concealed anger hissed through his clenched teeth.

This drew Clary's attention. She looked directly at Magnus with desperation clearly written over her features.

'Can we just not talk about it? I'll tell you tomorrow, but… just for tonight, can you distract me? Please?' The pleading in her voice was unmistakable, and although Magnus was desperate to know the details of his friend's sorrow, he knew that a distraction was what she needed most at that moment.

'Well you did actually catch me whilst I was getting ready for this positively _marvelous_ little get-together downtown, and being me I'm sure I can persuade them to let you in.' He wiggled his eyebrows at her, lacing his words with his usual flirty and suggestive mannerisms. The only way to distract Clary was to act like nothing was wrong in the first place.

She beamed at him, though it didn't reach her eyes like it usually did, then she glanced sorrowfully at her attire. She'd worn a beautiful full-length navy blue dress with a low neckline and an even lower back. It had been the perfect dress for the original plans for the evening, but now she wanted nothing more to be rid of it.

Magnus noticed this, pulled her up and marched her into his room towards his enormous wardrobe, the tea long forgotten. Magnus was an up and coming fashion designer, so women's clothes did not go amiss in his flat.

He rifled through the selection until his eyes rested on a very short black dress covered in sequins. He'd designed and made this dress deliberately for Clary, though he'd never tell her. The restrictions of her relationship, of which there were many, seemed also to stretch to how much fun she was allowed to have. He glanced back at Clary who was standing in the doorway of his walk-in closet, marveling at all the clothes. He threw the dress at her, calling out behind him as he continued to search through the wardrobe.

'Put that on while I look for the right accessories!' Clary disappeared into the bedroom to change, whilst Magnus practically tore apart his closet to find those _darn shoes!_ He had designed a whole outfit for Clary, one that he had never expected her to actually wear, so his excitement about getting her into his own design was impairing his ability to search effectively.

Finally, he found the box with the accessories for Clary's outfit in, and brought them out to the bedroom. He began saying something about the colour he'd chosen but his words died in his mouth when he saw her. Clary stood there in his dress, and she totally rocked it. It was better than he could ever have imagined, and the thought made him a little emotional.

'Hey, do I look completely terrible or did I stun you into silence with my beauty so much I may actually be turning you?' She winked playfully at him, and he could tell he was on the right track to distracting her.

'Darling you look fabulous, and though usually I'd be more than willing to tap that, I must inform you that my attention has been well and truly captured, and that fact renders me unfailingly and irreversibly gay.' Magnus almost swooned at the thought of his beautiful other half, though he tried to play it cool because it was still meant to be a secret.

'I'm hurt, Magnus, you and me, we could've been something special!' Clary exclaimed, holding her hand to her heart. She pretended to sob, adding to her melodramatics. 'But seriously, unfailingly and irreversibly? That sounds pretty permanent, and you _never _do permanent.'

'I know! I'm just as confused as you are,' Magnus replied as he sat on the bed next to his friend. 'But all I know is it's the happiest I've ever been and that's not something I'm willing to give up any time soon.' This conversation seemed to have ensnared all of Clary's attention, however Magnus worried that talking about his relationship would remind her of her own, and that would be completely counterproductive.

'Magnus that's great!' Clary cried, engulfing the eccentric man in a hug. 'I'm so pleased for you! So what's he like? How long have you been together?'

'Clary he's just the sweetest guy on the planet. We met about six months ago but we've been together for about three months. He's an artist, you'd totally love him, but he's super shy and so closeted he's practically a permanent resident of Narnia.' Magnus's eyes sparkled and his face lit up as he described his beau. 'I've been dying to tell you about him, but I haven't seen you in forever!'

Clary's face fell and she stared at the stray piece of thread on the pillow she was picking at. 'Yeah, well, y'know, Seb was never the most social type-'

Magnus cursed himself for allowing the conversation to head back to melancholyville and cut her off before she could say anything else. 'Well you're here now and we are going out to partayyy!' His overenthusiastic manner put a smile back on Clary's face, and before long the two were applying makeup and singing cheesy 90s pop songs at the top of their lungs.

Pandemonium was packed. Music too loud to distinguish was pumping through the speakers, the bass pounding through all of the bodies pressed tightly on the dance floor. It had distracted Clary for a while, dancing so closely to Magnus it would have been inappropriate if they weren't such good friends. She allowed the noise and the feel of the club to consume her. The pounding music replaced all misery in her brain, and the freedom of dancing with someone else was intoxicating.

It probably helped that she was almost completely drunk.

But after a few hours, when her feet started to ache and her head pounded with a headache instead of the music, she excused herself from Magnus insisting that she'd be back soon and found her way to the bar. The club had emptied significantly, but it was still busy. However, that didn't stop her from getting some water from the bar and finding an empty table right at the back of the club.

She sat there for a while, sipping at her water whilst allowing exhaustion and misery to take over. Just as she was about to find Magnus to tell him she wanted to leave, someone plonked themselves down in the seat next to hers.

'You look like you could use some company,' said a soft, deep voice with a –dare she think it?- delicious British accent. She turned to look at the someone whose voice had intrigued her, to find a conventionally attractive blonde guy with equally intriguing golden eyes.

She shook her head. _It must be the lights making his eyes look funny, _she thought, _or I'm drunker than I originally intended. _As her liquor impaired brain tried to work out the golden conundrum, she forgot to answer the stranger.

'Hey, is anyone in there?' he asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

'Uh, yeah, sorry. And I had company, actually. I was just getting away from it for a bit,' she replied, her thoughts returning to her miserable situation.

'Oooh, bad date, huh?' he suggested, 'Join the club.' He took a sip from the beer he was holding and glanced in Clary's direction.

For a split second her mind toyed with the thought that she should correct him, that no, it wasn't a bad date but the end of a 7 year relationship, but curiosity and need for more distractions got the better of her. 'What did you do?' she asked dryly, unable to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice. She regretted her implication that he must've done something wrong until he smirked and turned to look at her directly.

'Nice of you to assume that I ruined my own evening, however it wasn't like that at all.' He nodded at her, as if to reinforce the truth of his statement and took another sip of his beer.

'Oh?' she countered, not completely interested but grateful for the distraction.

'Well, apparently,' he leant down and looked around as if he were about to divulge a close secret, 'girls just want me for my body. They don't want to know me at all. It hurts me,' he clutched at his heart much in the same way as Clary had done to Magnus earlier, 'I mean I know I'm stunningly attractive but I'm pretty damn interesting too!'

Clary snorted but couldn't help the faint smile tugging at her lips. 'Wow, pretty _and _modest, you've got the lot.'

He grinned at her and held out his hand for her to shake. 'Jace Wayland, devastatingly handsome and wit extraordinaire at your service!'

She returned his grin and shook his hand. 'Clary Fray, not interested but highly amused.'

'You wound me, woman, and here I thought I was wooing you exceptionally.' His easy, laid back smile was infectious as he continued their banter.

'Ah yes, because narcissism is the new romance,' she said, her tone dripping sarcasm, 'I'm completely wooed, take me now.'

'Well seeing as sarcasm is the new flirting, I'd say were getting along brilliantly.'

A slight blush dusted her cheeks, _this guy has an answer for everything! _

'Anyway, Miss Fray, tell me about yourself. What do you do?'

Her face fell as she contemplated his question. What does she do? Nothing. Seb always insisted that she didn't need to work, her entire being was devoted to being Sebastian Verlac's fiancée. And now she doesn't even have that.

It was at exactly that moment that Magnus decided to find Clary. He walked up to her table, caught sight of her miserable expression and concluded that this gorgeous, golden piece of man-meat to her left was responsible for it.

'Hey Clary, is this guy bothering you?' Magnus's eyes narrowed in Jace's direction.

'Oh,' she said, startled out of her thoughts, 'no, not at all. In fact he was the perfect, if slightly unorthodox gentleman.'

Magnus visibly relaxed but remained slightly suspicious about the beautiful blonde's intentions. Locking eyes with his red-headed friend, he said 'Are you okay? Do you wanna go?'

'No, I'm okay, Mags, really. We can stay if you want,' Clary replied, though her eyes pleaded with him to let them leave. She was tired and miserable and had a headache, and one interesting conversation with one intriguing man was not enough to make anything better.

'Well I don't really have a reason to stay, I mean the good music stopped and unfortunately for you, Blondie, I'm already taken.' Magnus winked a glittery lid at Jace, catching him completely off guard.

After being laughed at by Clary and Magnus for a good two minutes as he composed himself, Jace managed to reply with a wink of his own. 'That's such a shame, you're _totally_ my type.'

'Another time, mon cheri,' Magus purred as he pulled Clary out of her chair and wrapped a hand round her waist.

Clary, still chuckling at the bizarre conversation unfolding before her, expressed her goodbyes to the hilarious stranger. 'Bye Jace. It was great to meet you.'

He smiled a crooked smile up at her. 'You too. See you around, Clary Fray.' Then, with a completely unexpected smack of Magnus's ass, he continued, 'Don't forget about me, Sparkles.'

With a glance at each other and then back to Jace's mischievous face, Clary and Magnus cracked up again as they left the club.

As soon as they were outside and the cold night air hit them, Clary's mood fell once again. She stopped walking with Magnus and he turned to look at her.

'What's wrong, honey?' he asked, his usually cheerful expression now solemn.

'Can I stay with you tonight? I don't have anywhere else to go.' Tears slipped from her eyes at the realization that she had nothing. The life she had grown so used to was over and there was nothing she could do about it.

Magnus draped his arm around his friend, pulling her close. 'I wouldn't have it any other way.'


	2. The Explantion

Hello you beautiful people!

By the few 'Update!' reviews I got and the 6 follows I'm guessing that at least a few of you are actually interested in this story so, this is for you, I guess.

(ICameOnlyForClace your comment made me super happy! Thank you lovely person, and to everyone else reading this!)

Here's Chapter 2, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, but I'm continuing to make Cassie's characters dance like puppets. Hope that's ok.

**The Explanation **

It wasn't until about 2pm that either Magnus or Clary surfaced. The night before had taken its toll and with it came a hefty hangover. Clary walked in to Magnus's kitchen to find the caramel skinned man sitting at a low table with his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the table over a steaming cup of fresh coffee.

Without looking up, Magnus grunted and pointed over to the kitchen worktop at the fresh pot of coffee. Clary would have laughed if she'd been in any mood to. Her head felt like her brain had been hit by a truck, and her insides felt strange and uncomfortable. She hadn't drunk that much in years. She poured herself a cup of coffee and rummaged for some aspirin, then joined Magnus at the table.

An age of comfortable but hungover silence stretched between them, until Magnus stood up.

'Come on, lets go get ready and then we'll take a walk. I know a great place that does the best hangover cures in town.'

Clary agreed, mumbling something along the lines of having a shower might make her feel more normal. Upon reaching the bathroom, Clary locked the door and turned to switch the shower on, but caught her reflection in the process. She stared at her out of control bed hair, her paler-than-usual complexion, the dark bags that had collected under her eyes. If she looked closely, she could make out the purpling skin on the left side of her jaw under last night's carefully applied concealer.

She refused to cry. Crying was pointless and counterproductive. Today was the day that she'd face her situation. Last night she chickened out, but there was no escaping it today. She stepped in the now steaming shower and mulled things over in the hot water. Dread pooled in her stomach at the thought of telling Magnus. She knew she didn't need to be worried about his reaction; she assumed the feeling was dread for confessing her situation. That would make it all real, and she didn't know if she could deal with that.

Clary didn't know what kind of place she'd been expecting when Magnus told her about his favourite place to remedy a hangover. A quirky coffee shop, perhaps? Or an eccentric foreign place that only sold things containing ingredients she'd never heard of before, maybe. But an ice cream parlour was definitely unexpected.

Magnus grinned sheepishly at her quizzical look. 'I know it's not specifically designed for curing hangovers, but seriously, when does ice cream ever not cheer you up?'

Magnus had a point, Clary thought. Her mother always got her ice cream when she was upset about something when she lived at home. The thought brought with it a happy sense of nostalgia, which seemed to calm her minutely. They entered the shop and once they were settled with their unreasonably large bowls of ice cream, Clary began to talk.

'You know, I never really thought about Seb's effect on my life as anything other than an improvement before, and I don't really know what changed. I was so happy, when we first got together. He made school bearable, he went to the same university as me and kept me safe and happy. I loved him so much. Things were perfect. We were perfect…' She trailed off and ate an unnecessarily large spoonful of ice cream.

'We had our own friends and our own space and then when we were together it was all about each other, you know? It was a great system. Then when we graduated, his dad employed him at his law firm, so that was Seb set for life. He got his own apartment and car and all these amazing things that only ever come from a rich parent when you're twenty-two. I guess I was overjoyed when he asked me to move in. It was the only logical option, now I think about it. I mean with mom and Luke travelling, I didn't have a home to go back to, and I couldn't exactly live with you, could I?' She looked up then, directly at Magnus.

'Don't be stupid, I'd have loved to live with you!' Magnus interjected forcefully. Clary would have been no burden to bear at all, no matter how much she tries to persuade you otherwise.

'Yeah, well, anyway. After college I guess I had this dream of becoming a proper artist, really get my name out there, you know?' Magnus knew. That's what he'd been doing in the fashion world since he graduated.

'Well since Seb had his amazing, high paying job and I wanted to be a real artist, I spent all of my time painting and drawing and sculpting and whatever. It wasn't a job. I didn't feel comfortable enough to do commissions quite yet, but I would've readily sold any that I'd already finished. Every time I brought it up, about getting my work in some shops and getting a proper job, he'd always encourage more practice. More painting and drawing when I was at home and he was at work. He'd say that there was no rush for me to get a job, he could handle everything, 'oh and by the way there's this ball I have to go to, will you come with me?'' She sniffed and ate some more ice cream, her gaze firmly locked in the past.

'I thought it was amazing. I was stupidly naïve and too madly in love to think anything other than that Seb was the most supportive boyfriend in the world. Whenever I brought up working, Seb would counteract me with another invitation to a ball or an important dinner that I had to attend. He said that I needed to go because our relationship showed that he was mature and it was a good selling point for him for this next promotion or whatever. I guess I can see his point, I mean it must be hard to get people to take you seriously in a prestigious law firm when you're only just fresh out of college.' Magnus was nodding along, starting to see where this was going.

'I started getting a bit annoyed about the job thing. I mean, you know how much I hate to rely on other people. I hadn't noticed quite how much of my former independence I had lost. I tried to confront him about it, we argued, he proposed. It wasn't an apology but I guess I was too overwhelmed with happiness and love and all that crap that I put it aside. And that was my next not-a-job project: our wedding.' She let out a long breath, a clear attempt to stop her eyes from tearing up. She was frustrated at herself for not seeing this coming as much as she was angry at Sebastian.

'We would have been engaged four months exactly, today.' She looked solemnly down at her hand and absently rubbed her thumb over her now empty ring finger. 'Anyway, last week I had practically sorted all the wedding stuff. It wasn't going to be big, you see. Seb let me plan everything exactly how I wanted. Well that's what I had thought, I mean every time I asked for his opinion I'd only ever get a grunt or a vague nod. Yesterday Seb finally got an evening off. He's been so busy, his dad has had him working so hard recently. I'd barely seen him since the engagement and he just seemed to be getting more and more distant. It must've paid off 'cause he got the promotion. We went out to this fancy restaurant to celebrate and I figured that was the time to show him my wedding plans.' A silent tear made its way down her face and she scrubbed at her cheek with unnecessary force to get rid of it.

'He was disappointed. He told me that for an artist he'd hoped for better. That hurt. Really bad…' Tears had started to flow freely now, her eyes still glazed as if she were locked in her memories. 'I got angry. I'd worked tirelessly for four months to get everything perfect and he was never, ever there to give one measly opinion. I told him that if I worked then maybe I'd be a better artist, that it was his fault for keeping me like his, his _lapdog_ since we left college. He pulled me up out of my seat and out of the restaurant out of anyone's view. I made a stupid remark about how everything was always about his reputation, how me making a scene is so inconvenient for him…'

She seemed to come back to reality then. Her normally bright green eyes that were now the colour of a stormy sea snapped towards Magnus and locked onto his gaze. She looked terrified, eyes wide and face as white as a sheet. Magnus knew that expression. He knew it all too well. He didn't need to hear the next words out of Clary's mouth to know what had happened. He moved around to her side of the booth and pulled her into the biggest, most protective hug imaginable.

'And then he hit me.'

That was all it took for Clary to lose it completely. She was breaking her heart all over again in Magnus's arms. She hadn't realized how painful it would be to voice the events of the previous night. All the pent up anger at Sebastian had been ripped open like an exposed wound, and it would hurt so badly until it healed.

Once again, anger rippled through Magnus, but he'd let it go to comfort Clary. Magnus had had an abusive father who liked taking his anger issues out on him and his mother, so Magnus held a special kind of hatred for any man who thought he could lay a finger on his own family, blood or not.

They stayed like that for an unknown amount of time until her sobs quieted and her breathing became more regular.

'That was the first time. He'd never hit me before, and I know it was probably a one off and it was my fault, I just made him mad, but mom always used to tell me if a man laid a hand on me that was violent or wasn't consensual, get the hell out of there. She told me not to make the same mistake she did. My dad wasn't a very nice person, and from what she's told me, mom stayed with him, put up with his abuse for years. Then I came along and she decided it was too dangerous a house for a child to grow up in. I love him, Mags, but he's never gonna hurt me again if I can help it.'

Magnus held her tighter and blinked back tears of his own. _If only my mother had had the same common sense, _he thought.

'You're doing the right thing, sugar,' Magnus said, his voice soft. 'Things would only get worse if you stayed. I know it's a pretty big chapter of your life that your closing, but the one that your about to start is gonna be all about you. You can do anything you want now.'

'Yeah but I've literally got to start everything from scratch. Everything I had was his. His house, his car, his money. I literally have nothing of my own, except for my paintings I suppose.' She looked down as she played with her hands.

'And that's what we're gonna do, peanut. He thinks you're completely dependent on him, but oh how we're going to prove him wrong!' Magnus was a sight of pure enthusiasm, encouragement and determination for his friend's happiness. 'You're gonna move in with me, we'll get you a job and then you can be the kick-ass artist you're meant to be!' Magnus was beaming at his own plan, and Clary couldn't help smile at his positive vibes. 'We'll call you 'Clary 2.0, Bigger, Better, More Badass! Put that bastard in his place!'

Clary giggled at her eccentric friends words. She knew she'd done the right thing by coming to see him. She looked up at him then, eyes still red and teary but a mischievous smirk on played on her lips.

'Guess what I did with the ring?' She started chuckling just thinking about it. She knew it was bad but it was a small personal victory, and at the moment that was all she had to better her ex fiancé.

'What?' Magnus asked, all too curious. He knew Clary was unlikely to go down without some kind of 'getting even'.

'I ran away from him as soon as… y'know… and he didn't follow me. He just stood there watching me run away. And there was this beggar down the street from the restaurant. I made sure he could still see me and I gave the beggar my ring!' Magnus burst out laughing and Clary joined him. It seemed absurd to be laughing in her situation, but hey, who was she to pass up such an opportunity?

'I don't think I could've done anything worse. I know that ring cost _a lot_, and I'm pretty sure there's nothing Seb hates more than beggars. Jeez he's so…' She paused while searching for the right word. 'Aloof! Thinks he's better than everyone. What did I even see in him?' She laughed again despite the vast, empty pit in her stomach. It was either that or cry, and she was done crying over Sebastian Verlac.

'Oh sweetie, I've been wondering the same thing since I met you in college!' Magnus admitted and laughed along with her. 'Now lets go shopping? We need to get you stuff for living with me!'

_Typical Magnus_, Clary thought, _always with the retail therapy._ It's not like she minded though. This was Day One of Operation Clary 2.0.

**AN:** I hope you liked it. Sebs an arse, though he's considerably nicer than some of the versions of Sebastian on this site! Not that I'm excusing his behaviour at all. Hitting your girlfriend is _not cool, _under _any_ circumstances. Anyway, enough of my prattling on, I just wanted to apologise. I know this chap is pretty angsty and I put 'romance/humour' as the type, but it was a necessary evil for you guys to get the back story and whatever. Stay tuned for more wit and new people!


	3. Operation Clary 20

Hey beautiful people, sorry this one's a little late, but hopefully you'll get the next chapter on time!

greygirl2358 you win the prize for the comment that made me happiest this week! You're so lovely! And so is everyone else who gives this story a chance! :)

Yoyoyo I like your style!

Anyway, on with the story, here's chapter 3.

**Operation Clary 2.0**

Day One of Operation Clary 2.0 was particularly successful in Magnus's point of view. Clary had explained what was wrong, she was finally rid of that bastard Sebastian so he got his friend back, and they got to go shopping. Not much could've made the day better, except maybe his red headed friend's happiness and an evening with his blue-eyed boy, but whatever.

Clary had spent most of the day checking that it was ok that she was moving in. She protested that she could find somewhere else if it was too much trouble. An excellent plan, with one minor flaw: Clary literally didn't have anywhere else to go. She had no money to rent anything and her mom and Luke had sold their house in order to go travelling.

Magnus was perfectly happy for Clary to move in. Apart from the good friend part of him that wanted to help her out, there was another reason why he was so eager for Clary to live with him. Tessa, Magnus's best friend in all the world, had moved out a couple of months ago to live with her boyfriend, and he really missed having a flatmate. He wanted desperately to ask his beautiful better half to move in, but he was easily spooked and didn't know if it was too soon. Magnus made a mental note to get a second opinion from Clary later.

So anyway, Clary moving in was a win win situation for everyone!

They spent the evening decorating Clary's room, singing along to more cheesy 90's pop and eating cheesecake for dinner. (Never underestimate a sad woman's need for pudding.)

Magnus was usually a very heavy sleeper, and anything that dared wake him before 11am was subject to extreme violence (or a finely tuned death glare if he was too tired to physically react). But this particular Sunday morning he was up and dressed very early to run a very important errand. He looked in on Clary to check that she was still very much asleep and that she was ok after her first night in her new home. Upon determining that she was, in fact, snoring like a pig with asthma, he snuck out.

Being an aspiring fashion designer did not make for an easy life. He'd been struggling to get by in the first few years out of college, but things had recently made a turn for the better. Two years ago, when Magnus was 24, he pulled all of his resources together and bought the tiniest little shop in the quietest little street in the whole of Brooklyn. Bane's Boutique, he had called it, and crammed it full of his own designs. Despite the shop's location being so hidden away, it soon received quite a long list of regular, dedicated customers. Naturally, Magnus new them all personally, now. He found it to be a good business tactic if he could remember a face, but he also really cared. It was his customers that made him a living, after all.

Word must have spread to some pretty important people about Magnus's little shop, as it was recently featured in a fairly prestigious fashion magazine in the up-and-coming section. That was Magnus's big break. He got noticed by a magazine that got other people noticing him. He was now working on a project that would give him 3 more stores in New York, and some kind of exclusive article in Vogue. It was official, things were going pretty damn well in Magnus Bane's life right now. He had the perfect job, the perfect man and now the perfect roommate. So as he knew what it was like to struggle in a fickle industry, he thought he'd help Clary out.

When Magnus got back to the flat, Clary was awake and helping herself to some coffee.

'Hey! I wondered where you were! Want some coffee?' she called as she heard the front door open.

'A drop of heaven's nectar wouldn't go amiss, thanks,' Magnus called back. When he walked into the kitchen Clary stared at him like he'd just confessed he was an alien pregnant with octuplets. 'That was a yes to coffee,' he clarified.

She shook her head, smiling at the absurd man. 'Heaven's nectar,' she repeated, as if tasting the expression on her tongue. 'I like it.'

Magnus moved to lean against the worktop next to Clary, eager for her to find out what he'd done.

'I have a surprise for you,' Magnus smiled as he took in Clary's puzzled expression.

'What is it?' she replied, clearly not understanding the point of a _surprise._

'I'm not telling you!' he laughed at his impatient friend, but his tone became more serious as he continued. 'But we're gonna need to get your paintings first, ok?'

Magnus had no idea where she kept all of her work, and if it was still at Sebastian's house then it was unlikely that she was ready to go and retrieve it.

Clary's brow furrowed in confusion. 'My paintings… what do we need those for?'

Magnus rolled his eyes at Clary. It was a _surprise_, meaning no information that she didn't need to know was going to be divulged.

'We just do! But if they're at… _his,_' Magnus spat the word like it burned his tongue, 'we don't have to do it today.'

'Oh! No, it's fine, I have a storage locker where I keep all my stuff. Seb never liked it lying around his house.' Her eyes darkened as she mentioned her ex. The more she thought about him, the fewer reasons she could come up with for why she'd stayed with him in the first place.

'Excellent! Let's go!'

Magnus was practically bouncing in excitement, and he grabbed her hand and led her to the front door. Clary protested, saying something that sounded like 'But, coffee!' but Magnus assured her they'd get some on the way.

The storage locker wasn't all that big, maybe the size of Magus's walk in wardrobe, but it was completely packed with canvasses and frames and drawings and paintings.

'Someone's been busy!' Magnus exclaimed as he took in the sight of all that art.

Clary smiled sheepishly up at him and replied 'I told you I had nothing else to do, didn't I?'

Magnus rifled through a few piles of paper and couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want this proudly on show in their home. Sebastian clearly had no idea what he'd just lost. He let himself stare in awe for a few more minutes then he turned sharply to Clary, suddenly all business.

'Right, choose the ones that you'd be happy to sell, and we'll take them down to the car.'

The fact that Magnus really wasn't going to give her any more information about her surprise must've finally sunk in, as Clary didn't question him. 17 works of art and a car ride later, however, Clary started to get suspicious as they pulled up outside Magnus's shop. Magnus had already left the car before Clary could ask why they were there. She paused for a minute trying to figure it out, by which time Magnus had disappeared inside.

She brought as many paintings as she could carry from the car into the shop before nearly dropping it all at the sight of the scene she walked in on. Her sparkly friend was attached at the mouth to a (gorgeous) black haired, black dressed man, and they were completely oblivious to Clary. She stood there and cleared her throat awkwardly to alert them of her presence.

The dark haired guy pulled away from Magnus with such force he nearly fell over, and a deep blush spread across his porcelain features as he tried to avoid Clary's eyes. Magnus, however, turned to her with the brightest smile and the air of excitement.

'Clary, darling, this is Alexander, my beautiful boyfriend!' Magnus exclaimed, sweeping his arms in an exaggerated manner in Alec's general direction.

'Magnus!' Alec whisper-shouted, looking hurt and blushing a deeper shade of red, if that was even possible.

Suddenly, all Magnus's attention turned to his boyfriend, his face dead serious. He placed one hand on the pale boy's face and the other on his shoulder.

'Hey, look at me, Clary is fine. She doesn't know you or your family. She's not going to out you and she _definitely _isn't going to hate you, ok?' Alec seemed relieved at Magnus's words but he still looked a bit worried. 'Besides, she walked in on me kissing your face off, its not like we can pretend you're just my incredibly hot shop assistant, can we?' Magnus remarked with a wink. This earned a shy smile from Alec who now seemed much more relaxed with the current situation.

'Wow! Alexander, its great to finally meet you! I've heard so many wonderful things about you!' Clary was genuinely excited to meet the only man to ever get Magnus thinking about settling down. She reached out to shake his hand.

Alec blushed and returned the handshake, a smile playing at his lips. 'And you, Magnus has told me all about you, too! And please, call me Alec.'

Clary returned his smile, which quickly turned into a mischievous smirk. 'You know, it's interesting to see the kind of guy that can make Magnus act like a love-struck teenage girl.' Magnus glanced disbelievingly at Clary whilst Alec looked at Magnus with a certain amused interest.

'I mean, usually Magnus is the picture of cool, calm and collected, but when he talks about you,' she smiled at Alec for extra effect, 'Well, then it's a different story. And he usually goes for someone less attractive, but you, my friend, are a perfect ten compared with Magnus's lowly eight.'

Clary was mostly teasing. She thought Magnus to be unreasonably attractive and that it was a bit of a shame he preferred the same gender, however there was no denying Alec was the best looking human in the room.

Alec blushed profusely at her words but proceeded to smirk cheekily at this specific piece of information. He clearly had no idea that Magnus went crazy-teenage-girl over him, however found this fact perfect grounds for leverage. His expression as he turned to Magnus shouted 'I am _so_ using this against you!'

Magnus, on the other hand, glared at Clary, as if she had revealed something Alec was never meant to be privy to. He prized his reputation and fan-girling over Alec did nothing to help it.

'HEY!' Magnus objected, 'you take that back, Clarissa Adele Fray, you know I'm off the scale!' His voice held malice but his eyes were sparkling with amusement.

Clary laughed and moved over to Alec. She stretched up and stage-whispered in his ear so that Magnus could still hear her. 'That might be so, but you're definitely better looking. Never let him forget it, ok?'

Alec turned to her with a smile, his cheeks still stained with what seemed to be a constant blush, and nodded. She held her fist out for Alec to fist-bump, and he responded appropriately.

Clary smiled at herself. It seems she had made a new friend out of Alec. He seemed ridiculously shy so instead of bombarding him with questions and scaring him further, she did what she did best and teased Magnus, appearing to be completely on Alec's side.

'Anyway!' Magnus announced, clearly trying to regain some power over the situation. 'I brought you here because I want to stock your work.'

Clary didn't answer, she just gaped at Magnus like he was an alien for the second time that day.

'You said yourself that you'd readily sell your work and I have a shop, it seemed like the perfect solution while you look for a job. Also, it's a brilliant addition to my shop, it was needing something new, wasn't it darling?' Magnus asked Alec.

'Yeah, you haven't changed anything for at least a week!' Alec replied, somewhat sarcastically but in a loving way. It seems Alec was also painfully aware of Magnus's eccentricity.

Clary smirked at the boys' interaction. Alec really was perfect for Magnus. He was the polar opposite of him: shy, self-conscious and quiet, but he could handle Magnus perfectly. Once she was done mooning over Alec and Magnus's relationship, she remembered the whole reason she was here.

'Are you serious?' She sputtered, 'Thank you so much! This is amazing! You're amazing!' She ran over and hugged Magnus tightly. As she pulled away she remembered something. 'Wait, how come you don't stock any of Alec's work? You said he was an artist, right?'

Magnus was just about to say something but Alec answered for him.

'I wouldn't say I'm much of an artist. I mean, I doodle and stuff, but I'm actually a graphic designer.'

Magnus nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, that's how we met. I needed some help with the displays and advertisements for the shop so I hired Alec. I probably could've done it myself but I spend practically all my time up to my waist in fabric and thread, and besides, Alec does it so much better.' He winked at Alec, which brought his blush back. 'That's not to say that I couldn't sell Alec's stuff. He's amazing but he doesn't think so.'

Clary smiled at Alec, completely understanding his state of mind. It took her years to realize that she was actually pretty good at art.

'That's so cool!' she said in what she hoped was an encouraging tone. 'Maybe one day you could show me some of your stuff?'

'I'd like that,' Alec replied.

They spent the rest of the day arranging Clary's pieces around the shop in the most aesthetically pleasing manner, then in the evening they all went out for some noodles. Despite still being heartbroken over the end of her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Clary felt that as long as she had Magnus and Alec by her side, things were going to be fine.

**AN: **Sorry if this chapter's a little slow, I guess its kind of a filler, I just needed to get Clary out of the house and I wanted to introduce Alec. He's definitely a favourite of mine, and he seems so underappreciated! Who else loves Alec? Or Magnus, for that matter. Cassandra Clare is one of my favourite people in the world because she brought Magnus Bane into the literary world! Where would we be without our very own sparkly warlock, eh? Also, I'll let you decide who Tessa's boyfriend is! ;) Anywho, see you next time guys!


	4. A Love Shared

Hello my beautifuls.

I'm so sorry its been so long again. I know I said I wanted to get this one up on time but when I said that I clearly failed to remember I'd be working at a festival all weekend, so I'd be without a laptop. (I really don't like camping, guys, I'm so bruised)

Anywho, here's chapter 4. Its got a bit of a malec-y vibe for a change, hope you like it.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the plot and the desire to have a Magnus Bane all to myself. greygirl2358 you're totally right, every girl needs one!

**A Love Shared**

Clary had applied for various exhibitions and put ads in the paper for commissions as soon as Magnus had put her work up in his shop. However the art world was a slow and picky one, therefore for the first few weeks she had nothing to do. She spent a good amount of time drawing and painting, but inspiration was lacking and it was nice to have time to herself without being expected to paint every second of every day.

Clary had never realized before just how busy a man Magnus Bane was. Living with him had opened her eyes: he would be at the shop all day in the back room designing and sewing new outfits to add to his collection, then he'd come home and do more designing and sewing and on top of that he somehow found the time to spend time with his boyfriend, cook and party.

It was safe to say that Clary was in awe.

Seeing as Magnus had displayed her work in his shop, she thought she'd help him out. She'd go down to the shop with him and stay behind the till. Sometimes Alec would be there, depending on his own workload, and the three would create an easy, relaxed environment for the customers.

However, Magnus's recent deal with Vogue meant that he was even busier than usual. After shutting the shop, he'd lug his portfolios full of designs and half finished garments back to his flat and continue to beaver away into the early hours of the morning. On many occasions, Alec had come to see Magnus but he'd be busy with work and promise to stop after an hour. Needless to say Magnus would get so absorbed with work that Alec ended up spending lots of time with his newest friend Clary.

Alec found he could be completely himself around Clary. It was a strange feeling, because the only person he had felt completely comfortable with before had been Magnus, and it was only because they were intimate. But here Clary was. She had been a perfect stranger 3 weeks ago, but she'd completely accepted who he was, and was actually interested in his work and his opinions. They could have ridiculously deep conversations or just have stupid childish fun.

That was what they were doing this particular Thursday evening. They'd all come back to Magnus's after he closed up shop, Magnus had disappeared into his fashion room muttering something about different shades of blue, and Alec and Clary settled on the sofa playing Alec's Xbox. He had installed it at Magnus's for this precise reason. Alec found it a little sad that Magnus was too busy to hang out, however Clary was quickly becoming his best friend, so he didn't mind chilling with her until Magnus gave up for the night.

Clary's cheer rang out through the living room.

'How are you beating me so badly?! You said you'd never played this before last week! Have you been practicing while I'm not here?' Alec asked in a playfully accusatory tone.

'It must be my day! Two paintings sold and consistently thrashing you on the Xbox, I'm on fire!' Clary exclaimed excitedly. 'I better quit while I'm ahead, what time is it anyway?'

Alec looked at his watch mid-yawn.

'Jesus, it's nearly midnight! Time really does fly,' Alec said, getting up from the sofa and stretching.

Clary shamelessly oggled Alec mid-stretch, as his t-shirt rode up and revealed a strip of toned stomach. It wasn't that she was crushing over her flatmate's boyfriend or anything, it's just that Alec was a beautiful man and Clary appreciated it (and she was now perfectly free to openly appreciate it). She made it a point to tell him so at every opportunity in hopes of boosting his ego a little. He was so self conscious it was ridiculous, but Clary told him regularly and in no uncertain terms that he had no need to be. He was gorgeous, funny and talented, and Clary needed him to understand that. It was a shame to see her newest close friend be so disheartened by himself.

Alec blushed as he noticed Clary staring, and she smiled in return. He shook his head with a smile on his face. He knew very well what Clary was trying to convey in her smile and he couldn't help but smile at her persistence.

'Well, I'm going to check that Mags hasn't mummified himself in shiny silver jegging material.'

Clary paused for a second, suddenly mildly horrified.

'That's likely to happen?'

'It's certainly a possibility, once I found him curled up in his chair with a half finished wedding dress as a duvet and some kind of bra for a pillow.'

'No way!' Clary laughed. 'In that case, attend to your man!'

'Haha ok, night Clary.'

'Night honey,' she replied, making her way back to her own room.

Alec knocked lightly on Magnus's fashion room door, and when no reply came, he let himself in quietly. Magnus was slumped in his chair with his head resting on his arms on the desk. His left hand was perilously close to some needles so Alec moved them before an incident could occur, doing his best not to make any noise. Finding Magnus asleep at his desk was becoming a far too regular occurrence, but Alec didn't have the heart to wake him just yet.

Magnus's sketchbook lay open in front of him at a page entitled Eveningwear. One side of the open page contained a beautifully detailed purple and blue ball gown. By the scraps of fabric littering the desk and the floor, Alec guessed that this was what Magnus had been making all evening. The other side of the page had a scruffily drawn tuxedo that had been erased and re-drawn hundreds of times with little to no notes down the side.

Alec had only seen glimpses of Magnus's sketchbooks as he was generally very private about them. His argument was that he liked people to see the finished product, not the scribbles he produced whilst in the process of designing them. But Alec thought Magnus's scribbles were beautiful. Alec didn't have a fashionable bone in his body but he could appreciate the elegance of all of his boyfriend's work.

This right-hand side of this double page spread, however, was less than elegant to put it nicely. Alec came to the conclusion that this tux was one of the reasons that Magnus wasn't sleeping much. He knew that the deadline for his portfolio to be submitted to Vogue for evaluation was very close, and worrying over an unfinished suit can't be helping Magnus's mental state. Alec promised himself in that moment that if there was anything he could do to help his boyfriend, he would.

After studying Magnus's sketchbook for a while, Alec turned his attention to his boyfriend. Magnus was still completely asleep, looking young and peaceful. This was a drastic change, considering recently Magnus tended to look stressed and worried.

Alec trailed his fingers down the side of his boyfriend's face so gently, it was as if he was afraid Magnus would break under his touch. It was times like this, when Alec could just gaze upon his lover that he would allow himself to think about his situation. Magnus was undoubtedly the best thing that had ever happened to him. It might sound cliché but that's how Alec felt. They'd only been going out for about 4 months, and Alec had never been in love before but he was completely certain he was in love with the sparkly man in front of him.

He desperately wanted to tell Magnus this, that he loved him with every fibre of his being, but he knew that Magnus had never been a permanent relationship kind of guy and he was scared that if he confessed his feelings, Magnus might run a mile. He also knew that in order to prove to Magnus that he really did love him, he'd have to come out.

Alec was kind of incredulous at the fact that he had managed to stay practically a permanent member of Narnia for this long. He was 26, for God's sake. He knew he should have told his family years ago, but he had just never got up the courage. He had the most masculine brother imaginable and his parents were pretty opinionated. He figured they'd disown him at worst or treat him completely differently at best, there seemed to be no advantage to telling them. He also felt he was sort of a role model for his youngest brother and coming out would ruin that. His sister had guessed and had urged him to tell but was going to let him come out when he was ready.

It was ridiculous, really, that he was still in the closet. He was a man, his own person, and he should be able to accept the possible consequences of coming out, but the thought of telling his family nearly had him in a panic attack every time. So for the moment, Alec was content with having Magnus to himself with only one other person on the entire planet who was aware of their relationship.

After a while of existential pondering and gazing at his beau, Alec moved to pick up his boyfriend and take him to bed. He tried desperately not to wake him, because Magnus clearly needed as much sleep as he could get. Magnus fit perfectly into Alec's arms despite his 6'4'' frame. He was slim with slight muscle, whereas Alec was broad and strong, standing at 6'2''.

When they reached the bedroom, Alec set Magnus down on the canary yellow duvet covered bed and started to undress him. Despite his complete lack of fashion knowledge, he had listened to Magnus gush about his beautiful clothes enough to understand that he wouldn't want to sleep in his designer shirt or his far too tight black shiny skinny jeans.

Alec handled him so gently as he removed Magnus's shirt, but his lover woke up regardless. As Alec was attempting to remove the practically painted on jeans, he heard the sleep filled voice of the man he loved.

'Trying to get me naked even though I'm asleep, I notice,' Magnus said. Alec could practically taste the wink that followed.

'I was just- I mean- Your clothes, they'd get ruined…' Alec started, but Magnus cut him off.

'Hey, I was just teasing, but I'm touched that you even thought about my clothes.'

Alec had moved so that his knees were either side of Magnus's thighs and his hands either side of his head. He leant down for a soft kiss in reply. The kiss soon turned a little more heated, as Magnus wasn't having any of the distance between them. He reached one arm around Alec's neck and the other around Alec's waist pulled him close.

Alec was in heaven. This was his favourite part about their relationship. Of course, the love was incredible, but kisses like this spoke volumes of love and care and intimacy.

They broke apart after a while and Alec heard Magnus utter a contented sigh. He loved that he could be the one to draw that from Magnus's lips.

After a few minutes of just soaking each other up, Alec decided he'd be a little bold. He leant down to whisper in Magnus's ear.

'Ok, maybe a little part of me wanted you naked…'

Magnus eyes widened visibly. It was extremely rare that Alec would ever speak like that. The blush that adorned Alec's face immediately after kind of ruined the dirty talk effect, but Magnus thought it made him even more adorable.

'Not that that didn't turn me on, I'm just super tired, I'm sorry baby.' Magnus replied, sad that he wasn't up to returning something that Alec had initiated.

'Hey that's cool, that's not really what I meant anyway. I know this might sound mushy and stupid but there is literally nothing more comforting than your skin on mine,' Alec confessed, his face heating up as he spoke.

Magnus was quiet for a minute as he thought about how perfect Alec was and how his heart melted at his words. Magnus had only ever let himself feel this way about another person once before, and she had completely crushed him. But there was something about his Alexander that was different and so, so much better.

Alec took the silence to be a bad thing.

'Magnus, say something… sorry if that was too much, I just- I mean-'

Magnus cut him off again with another meaningful kiss.

'Don't apologise, I feel the same. You're perfect, Alec.'

With another kiss, Magnus reached to remove Alec's holey black t-shirt. The need to be as intimate as possible without doing anything particularly physical was overwhelming. When they were both unclothed they settled into comfortable silence. Alec was lying on his back with Magnus settled with his head on his chest and his legs twined with Alec's.

Alec was rubbing gentle circles into Magnus's shoulder, and the other hand was running from Magnus's waist, over his hip to his thigh and back again. Magnus was drifting off with the comforting sensations, but before he fell asleep completely, Alec needed to ask him something.

'Mags? You still awake?' Alec asked softly.

Magnus gave a hum in response.

'I was just wondering if I could help you in any way with your Vogue stuff. I mean, I know I don't know anything about fashion but I hate how stressed its making you.'

Magnus thought for a minute and Alec thought he'd dropped off, but he eventually responded with 'Model for me.'

Alec stiffened, his hands stilling on Magnus's body. He couldn't stand people taking pictures of him anyway so how he was supposed to willingly let someone take pictures of him in something he'd never ever wear?

Sensing his boyfriend's discomfort, Magnus spoke up.

'Babe its not like for photo shoots or anything, I'm just having massive trouble with the men's half of my collection. Tessa is my model for all the women's stuff so that's fine, but I just can't get the men's garments to fit right on me, and I can't adjust clothes that I'm wearing. I'd just need you to wear things for me so I can make them look right, that's all…'

Magnus's tone was laced in hope, and Alec had promised himself that he'd do anything to help the beautiful man he held in his arms. If Magnus needed him to wear what he had designed, then that's exactly what Alec was going to do.

'Of course. I'll come to the shop with you guys tomorrow and we can start then?' Alec asked, determined to be useful.

It was Magnus's turn to be speechless. He hadn't expected Alec to agree at all let alone so quickly. He really had found the man of his dreams.

'You really are perfect, you know?' Magnus said into Alec's chest as he moved to get comfortable again.

Alec didn't reply but smiled into Magnus's hair as he held him tighter. Maybe, just maybe, he had a chance at a future with Magnus Bane.

Well there you go, I hope you liked your very own slice of Malec fluff. It needed to happen at some point, and I wanted to let you guys know what their relationship is like in this story. More plot next time I promise.


	5. Things Are Looking Up

Hello my beautifuls!

I hope you've had a good week since I last updated :)

This one's very plot oriented, so sorry if it's a bit boring. I hope you guys are still interested in it, it means so much that you guys actually read (and like?) what I write!

Greygirl2358, don't worry, Jace will be reappearing pretty soon and you'll have to wait and see about Sebastard (love that nickname!)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything as usual. But if I could have all the boys (apart from sebastard, obviously) I'd be one happy girl!

Anyway, here's chapter 5, enjoy!

**Things Are Looking Up**

The morning came around far too quickly, and in no time Magnus, Alec and Clary were on their way to Bane's Boutique. Clary would be looking after the shop by herself today, because Magnus 'needed Alec in the back room'. Clary could only hope he needed him for something fashion-related only.

It was a slow day for a Friday, there had only been a few customers in. Clary spent a lot of her time playing some mindless game on her phone or doodling on pieces of paper she found lying around. Not that she didn't love Magnus or was very thankful for him letting her help out, but she needed some proper work soon or she'd go stir crazy.

It was nearing the end of the day, and just as she was doodling what her outfit might look like if she were an inhabitant of a mental asylum, Magnus cleared his throat behind her.

'May I present to you, Bane's Indigo Suit from his Eveningwear Collection, modeled by the beautiful Alexander Lightwood!'

Magnus was standing tall with a weary but genuinely excited smile on his face. Clary turned in her seat and she gasped at the sight in front of her.

Alec looked incredible. Like drop-dead gorgeous. Like it's-a-real-shame-you're-taken good looking. Like – well, you get the picture. The whole suit was a purple-grey colour with harsh lines and a strong structure that complimented Alec's angular face perfectly. The trousers were tight but not too tight: they fitted perfectly around Alec's ass and thighs, showing off some muscle but leaving a lot to the imagination. The jacket did the same. It was fitted tightly but was tailored to perfection around Alec's frame. The only pop of bright colour was the lining and the piping around the lapels and cuffs. She didn't know how Magnus had found such beautiful material, but it was exactly the colour of Alec's eyes.

Although it's stating the obvious, this suit was made for Alec.

Clary was finding it a little difficult to form words. There was something about a man in a good suit that was unreasonably attractive anyway, but when you factor in that the man in question has the beauty of many a Greek god in the first place, well, Clary's knees were weak.

'Oi, stop oggling my boyfriend and tell me what you think of the suit!' Magnus said indignantly. It irked him a little that Clary was so taken with Alec's looks.

'Suit? Oh, yeah, good! Suit good. The suit is very good!' Clary spluttered, shaking her head to rid herself of the Alec induced stupidity.

Amongst all of this, Alec stood there completely uncomfortably. He was far too aware of how tight the suit was around his ass and all he could think of is what he'd do to be wearing his good old baggy black jeans again. His face was a beautiful shade of beetroot, not only because someone might see him, but also because of the fact that he was being drooled over by both the people in the room.

He felt ridiculous, he never wore suits as he never had any need to. But a small part of him, a _very _small part of him really liked how he looked in Magnus's design. He loved that he could help Magnus, and he was ridiculously impressed with what Magnus could achieve in such a small amount of time. He had fitted and adjusted the suit in no time, and it was a pleasure to watch him work. This was a side to Magnus he'd never experienced before, and Alec was in awe of his boyfriend's talent with fabric.

'Alec, you should model.' Clary said after she was finished oggling him.

Alec scoffed and blushed some more. He was determined not to be persuaded into this.

'No, I'm serious! I mean, you're already ten times better looking than the average model anyway, and you just have this natural grace about you. You'd be great!'

'I've already told him all of this, Clary,' Magnus said, moving towards his boyfriend so he could take his hand. 'But I don't want him to feel like he has to do anything he's uncomfortable with. I'm just so grateful he agreed to help me fix my designs.'

The look that passed between the lovers was one that Clary felt she shouldn't have been present for. It spoke of trust and love and all of a sudden Clary was a little bit jealous. She adored Magnus and Alec, and she didn't begrudge them of their happiness at all, she just wanted someone to look at her like that.

Sebastian certainly never had.

The more she thought about her previous relationship, she got less and less certain that it was a happy one. As she looked upon the sight of her two closest friends gazing at each other as if they were the entire world and nothing else mattered, she was sure that her relationship with Seb had never reached that kind of intimacy level.

At least not on his side anyway.

She had been completely besotted with him, but now as she looked back on it, she couldn't remember Sebastian ever being the loving sort. Clary considered now that maybe theirs had been a relationship of convenience to him, and that thought stung like hell.

But before Clary could show her sadness or even attempt to cover it up, the bell over the door rang to signal that someone had just entered the shop. Magnus ushered Alec back into the back room as it was imperative that no one saw Magnus's designs before they were released, and that left Clary to serve the customer.

She was not a customer that Clary recognized. The woman that was currently browsing the shop was tall with greying dark brown hair and sharp features. She was wearing a beautiful deep blue patterned blouse with a very expensive looking pencil skirt and suit jacket. The way she held herself suggested she was an important person and that she was sure of it.

Despite everything about this woman's appearance that suggested Clary should be intimidated, the kind smile on her face as she approached the counter reassured Clary.

'These paintings are just exquisite!' The woman exclaimed, 'I should have guessed that Magnus would have an eye for fine art as well as fashion!'

Clary blushed at the compliment but was suddenly unwilling to admit that she was the artist. She had never been good at taking compliments for her work from strangers.

'Yes, well…' Clary started but Magnus interrupted her.

'Why thank you, my dearest Imogen!' he cried as he swept through the room towards his customer. 'How are you? It's been too long, darling!'

Clary could barely disguise her laugh at the thought that when Magnus was charming his customers, he sort of came across as a tall, male version of Edna Mode.

'Oh, you know' Imogen replied in a non-committal manner. 'I'm sorry I haven't passed through recently, we've been preparing for the school's inspection. Very stressful stuff.'

'That's fine, darling, the important thing is that you're here now! Have you seen anything you like?'

'Well I had every intention of coming in here and asking your advice on something to wear to a wedding. My niece, Charlotte, is getting married you see. Beautiful girl with the most adorable fiancé! But it's a small affair, so I couldn't have anything too extravagant-' Imogen cut herself off as if she caught herself rambling. 'But _anyway, _I came in here to find you've made the most beautiful addition to your collection. These paintings really are beautiful, Magnus. Who is the artist?'

Magnus smiled encouragingly in Clary's direction as if warning her that she's about to be the centre of attention.

'Well it's funny you should ask, Imogen darling, as the artist is this little one here-' he gestured to Clary who shot him a sour look at the height reference, '-my good friend Clarissa Fray!'

Imogen stared at Clary as if she didn't believe so much talent could be hidden inside such a small young woman.

'You did these?!' she inquired, mildly flabbergasted. Clary nodded shyly.

'How are you not famous?! My dear you are clearly exceptionally talented!'

Clary blushed but shook her head.

'I've only recently put my work on display, and that's all thanks to Magnus, really. Fame isn't everything, but I have to admit it feels really good when someone buys my work.'

'I do agree with you, Imogen,' Magnus piped up, 'She is a very talented girl, it's just a shame that the art world is a slow one really.'

'Oh, so you are completely exclusive to Bane's Boutique? I like it, you two could be partners or something!' Imogen suggested. She spoke with her hands, it was quite a comical sight.

'Oh, no, its only until I find permanent work. Magnus is being so kind letting me display my work in his shop but once I get a proper job it will probably stop…'

'You're in need of a job, you say?' Imogen inquired, suddenly very interested. 'Have you ever thought about teaching art? We could definitely use a young talented girl like yourself to breathe new life into our Art Department. You know it was the only department that didn't score outstanding in the inspection! It's in dire need of change and I'm sure you'd be capable of it!'

Clary was quiet as she mulled it over. It was perfect really, teaching art. It would give her a stable job whilst still being able to work on commissions or pieces for exhibitions. And why not? She didn't have anything against kids and she'd love to impart her knowledge to some impressionable minds. Generally, the offer sounded brilliant.

Except she had absolutely no idea who this woman was, which school she worked at or anything!

'Um, well, I'd never thought of teaching before, but I think that sounds great! One question though, which school is it, and how do I apply?'

Imogen then looked suddenly flustered.

'Oh, my dear, I'm terribly sorry! How rude of me not to introduce myself! I am Imogen Herondale, Headmistress of St Xavier's High School. If you'd like, we can pop for coffee and chat more about what the job will entail. Think of it as an informal interview?' She turned to Magnus as if asking his permission to take his help for the last half hour of the working day.

'That sounds brilliant, Imogen, how kind of you to offer my good friend a job! You'll get 50% discount on that wedding outfit!' Magnus winked at Imogen, beaming. He was pleased that finally something was going right for his lovely red-headed friend.

Although Clary was a little apprehensive about how quickly this job offer had happened, Magnus seemed to trust Imogen and Clary trusted Magnus, so really, what was there to lose?

After chatting for a while with the well spoken but mildly eccentric headmistress, Clary came to the conclusion that she liked Imogen Herondale. It came across that she really cared about the students and the staff at her school, and that the quality of life was as big of a priority as good grades. She spoke highly of the kids as well, that they were a delightful bunch and firm but fair was the best way to go about teaching them.

St Xavier's was a pretty posh school, Clary had walked past it a few times. It wasn't a massive school, and that suited Clary just fine. She didn't really know how to process the fact that she'd be going back to high school. The one place most adults never ever want to go back to, right? So why was she so excited?

After a while, when they had spoken about the most important things, and had a little bit of a chat, Imogen made her excuses and left, and Clary sat for a while longer contemplating what had just happened.

She might have just got a job.

Finally!

**AN:** Well there you go, lovelies. I hope you enjoyed it! Don't worry, things are going to get more interesting, I can promise at least one new character in the next chapter! I know Imogen is a little out of character but given the chance and a change of career I reckon she would've been a really nice woman! Anyway, reviews make me happy, so if you wanna let me know what you think about this story then go ahead! See you next time guys!

… There were way too many exclamation points in that AN...


	6. A Good Morning

Hey my beautifuls,

I'm so sorry this wasn't up before the weekend. I literally finished the chapter at 6am on Friday morning but I had to leave the house to go work at another festival before I could upload it :( I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter up before this weekend to make up for it.

On a happier note, thank you so so much for all your lovely reviews! You guys don't know how happy it makes me to know you like (or even have an opinion on) my stuff :D I love you guys :)

Here's chapter 6!

**A Good Morning**

Monday rolled around faster than Clary had anticipated. She had spent the whole weekend shopping with Magnus to find teacher-worthy clothes. Apparently she needed something that said 'professional but fun!'

'Professional but fun' ended up being a black pencil skirt with a black strap top tucked in, with a beautiful floral kimono to go on top. She wore her hair down, her unruly curls had been tamed to perfection, and she had statement jewelry around her neck and wrists.

So on this Monday morning she had no problems with picking out an outfit, she was uncharacteristically organized and ready two hours before she needed to meet with Ms Herondale. Magnus was still asleep and Alec hadn't stayed over that night so Clary was sitting in the kitchen alone at 7am ready for the day and bouncing with nervous energy.

After precisely seven and a half minutes of sitting at the kitchen table with nothing to do for a while, Clary decided she'd explode if she didn't do something right that second. She jumped up, grabbed a book she'd been meaning to read and stuffed it in her overflowing bag (well who knows what kind of stuff she'd need on her first day?) and left the flat.

The school was about a half an hour walk away, and that was fine by Clary. She liked seeing the city despite the late October weather. Today was a cold but sunny day, and she set off in the direction of the school in no hurry at all.

As she neared the school, she found herself making a pit stop at a coffee shop. It was the perfect place really, coffee and a place to read. What more could she want while she was waiting? A bell rang above the door to signal that she had entered the shop, and a sleepy Java Jones barista shuffled his way out of the back room to serve her.

'Good morning!' Clary practically sang. She was way too cheerful for a Monday morning.

'Hiya, what can I get you?' the sleepy barista said, whose nametag read 'Simon'. Despite his obvious fatigue, he still smiled at the cheerfulness of his customer.

'Just coffee please! Black' she replied, 'Like my soul' she added under her breath.

But it clearly wasn't quiet enough as Simon The Barista looked up over his thick hipster glasses and chuckled. _I like this one_, he decided, _I hope she's a regular._

Clary smiled back, a little embarrassed, but Simon The Barista had started on her coffee. She took the time to study the individual, after all, what else was there to do whilst waiting for coffee? He was tall and lanky with a mop of brown hair that looked like a birds nest. He was wearing shabby black skinny jeans that were baggy on his thin frame and the Java Jones work polo shirt complete with some Batman pattered Chuck Taylors. He looked like a stereotypical nerd but Clary was never one to judge a book by its cover.

Just as he was bringing Clary's coffee over to the counter, he tripped on an untied shoelace and spilt it all over his left leg.

'AH SH-' he cried, bending over to hold the wounded leg.

'Are you ok?!' Clary asked, alarmed.

Once Simon The Barista had regained his composure, he smiled tightly at Clary and said 'I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took scolding coffee to the knee.'

This had Clary in stitches. It was safe to say that she had got _aggressively _into playing Skyrim on Alec's Xbox when no one else was in the flat, so she got the reference immediately.

'I'm pretty sure that's the best use of that phrase I've ever heard! But seriously, are you ok?' Clary asked, genuinely concerned about this funny barista.

'I'm pretty sure you're the only person outside my group of friends who has ever got that reference, so despite the burnt leg, today's going pretty well, thanks!' he replied. 'If you just wanna go sit, I'll make you some more and bring it over.'

'Are you sure that's wise?' Clary teased, a smile on her face.

'Probably not, but I'll get your coffee to you even if it kills me!' Simon The Barista replied, smiling back.

Clary plonked herself down in a comfy armchair by the window of the shop and pulled her book out. She was already in an excitable mood, but nothing beats the feeling of meeting a friendly stranger. It was unusual for anyone in New York to care about anyone they didn't know, so to have a jovial conversation with a barista at 7.30 on a Monday morning was a beautifully welcome rare occurrence. As such, she found it difficult to concentrate on the depressing work of Sylvia Plath.

Her leg was bouncing absently as she attempted to focus on the words on the page just as Simon The Barista returned with a perfectly unspilled cup of steaming black coffee.

'Jeez, Sylvia Plath? You are a glutton for punishment!' Simon noticed as he set Clary's coffee down on the table in front of her.

'Haha yeah, I guess,' she replied. 'Its kind of one of those things that I feel I should have read but I don't actually enjoy, you know?'

'I wholeheartedly agree,' Simon replied, standing awkwardly next to Clary's chair. He stood at a good 6 feet, so he'd tower over Clary even if she were standing.

'So you're not a fan of poetry?' she asked, interested in this friendly stranger.

'Not in the traditional sense. In my mind poetry means nothing without music to back it. Now if it's lyrics we're talking about, I can express a lot more appreciation for it. I even try my hand at it once in a while...' he trailed off, probably worried he was boring his customer. Not that there was anything else to do, the shop was still pretty empty.

'You write songs? That's great! Are you in a band?' she inquired, eager to know. Clary appreciated art in all its forms, especially music seeing as she had no musical ability whatsoever. Musicians fascinated her, the way they could pull music from a stationary object.

Simon nodded, blushing vaguely as if it were a thing to be embarrassed about.

'No way that's awesome! What are you called?'

Simon blushed even more before answering. 'Believe it or not, but I'm the bass player in a band called The Sea Vegetable Conspiracy,'

Clary was quiet for a second to verify that Simon The Barista was being serious, and then she burst out laughing.

'I'm sorry… but … that's just … _ridiculous!_' she stuttered out between bouts of laughter.

Simon had joined in laughing at the absurdity of his band's name. 'To be fair we're a pretty ridiculous band, it's just a hobby really, absolutely nothing serious.'

'Nice! What kind of stuff do you write about then, Simon The Barista?'

'Well, dear customer-'

'Clary,' she interjected, introducing herself.

'Well, Clary, most of my songs are about the usual stuff. Y'know, love, lies, friends, string theory. Nothing out of the ordinary.'

He had tried to keep a straight face but when Clary blanched at the mention of string theory he couldn't help but crack a smile.

'String theory?!'

'Totally! I'm doing a PhD in Physics, string theory is kinda on my mind _all the time.'_

Clary nodded along as if she understood, although the extent of her knowledge of string theory was only what she'd learned from watching endless hours of The Big Bang Theory on Magnus's tv. At this point, she had put her book away and started sipping on her coffee.

Just as she was about to reply to Simon, the bell over the door sounded and a few more coffee seekers entered Java Jones.

'Ah, I better go and get that,' Simon said, 'But it was great chatting to you! Enjoy your coffee!' And with a smile that Clary returned, he left to serve the customers.

Clary sipped the rest of her coffee in silence, looking out of the window and watching the world go by. The conversation with (what she hoped would be) her new friend Simon helped to calm her nerves, but the butterflies were coming back aggressively the closer to 9am it got.

The shop had got very busy since Simon had left to serve the customers, so at 8.40 (she wanted to be punctual on her first day) she threw a wave over her shoulder and a 'Bye, Simon!' as she left to make the rest of her journey to St Xavier's High School.

Despite the number of students that attended St Xavier's being relatively few, the main school building was vast. It was a massive gothic building, and Clary appreciated the grandeur of the architecture. From what she had gathered from her conversation with Ms Herondale and the few cars that were already parked outside, Clary guessed that the kids that went here had extremely well off parents. She couldn't decide what that meant. She guessed she'd have to meet them to decide which ones were the over-entitled rich kids and which ones were just awesome and grateful for what they have.

Clary was fifteen minutes early as she walked into the school's reception.

'Hi, I'm Clarissa Fray, I'm meant to be meeting Ms Herondale?' she sort of asked the receptionist.

'Ah yes, you're the new art teacher! Brilliant, we'll you're a tad early so if you like I can give you a bit of a tour?' the receptionist replied. She was a smiley woman, a little plump with lipstick on her teeth but generally inoffensive and likeable.

'That would be great, thanks!' Clary replied, already liking the atmosphere of her new workplace.

The receptionist (whose name turned out to be Jane) decided to show Clary to the Art Department, as they didn't have time for a full tour of the school but at least she'd see where she'd be working. To get to the Art Department one first needed to stroll through the English Department. There were pieces of students' work displayed over all of the walls and a strange sense of _wisdom_ as they walked through the corridors.

The halls were mostly empty seeing as the students chilled outside until the bell rang. The only sign of life was the occasional hustle and bustle of a teacher making their way to their classroom. Clary received friendly smiles and hellos but Jane assured her that she'd get to meet everyone properly in the staff room later.

They arrived at the Art Department and Clary could see why the Headmistress of the school wanted to bring some new life into it. If the English Department's atmosphere spoke of wisdom, then surely the Art corridors should emanate creativity? But no. Not this department. The walls were mostly bare with a few pieces of student's work. It has to be said the pieces chosen to display were incredible, but there was just so little of it to go around. The works were framed and hung clinically on the walls, giving the halls a kind of museum vibe.

Clary vowed to herself that if Ms Herondale and the other teachers approved, she'd turn this corridor into a rollercoaster of colour and _expression._ She wanted the people that walked down the Art Department halls to be inspired to paint or draw or sew or print or anything else creative that can be thought of.

Jane showed Clary the classrooms briefly, and inside was the same sorry sight. The desks were arranged in a horseshoe shape and around the sides were cupboards of paper and paint and charcoal and various other arty things. There was a sink over on the far wall with water pots and paint palettes piled high next to it. Inside, the walls were just as sparse as the corridor walls, and only held a slim selection of student's work.

Museums to Clary spoke of history, the dead and what they accomplished. An Art Department should show off the talent of every student that steps foot inside it, not be reminiscent of a museum. It should be a whirlwind of colour, with art on _every inch_ of _every wall_.

Once the brief tour was over, Jane brought Clary back to the reception to meet with Ms Herondale.

'Ah, Clary dear, you made it! Excellent stuff!' Imogen cried as she opened her office door and set eyes on the red head. 'Now, if you'll just come into my office for a minute or two, we can just have a little chat about what you'll be doing today.'

Clary nodded and followed the Headmistress into her office.

'Take a seat,' Imogen offered as she sat herself down on the important side of the vast desk. 'How are you dear?'

'Very well thank you!' Clary said a little excitedly. 'And yourself?'

'Ah yes, I'm fine thank you! Right, to business! This week I'm going to have you shadowing Mr Starkweather, the current art teacher, seeing as you've never had a teaching job before. He'll go over the curriculum with you and you'll meet all of the kids that you'll be teaching, as we have a one-week timetable here. After this week you'll have the other classroom and be in charge of lessons by yourself, but of course if you are not ready for that then you can always carry on shadowing for another week. Its important that you are comfortable teaching before you start!'

'That sounds brilliant!' Clary said, a little relieved that she wouldn't be teaching on her own straight away.

'Excellent, excellent!' Ms Herondale smiled. 'Well I trust Jane showed you the Art Department?'

Clary nodded again.

'Well if you make your way down there, Mr Starkweather will be waiting for you to give you a little brief of his own. I'm terribly sorry I can't walk you down there, I've just got _so _much work to do today!'

'Oh no that's fine! Thank you again for this opportunity, Ms Herondale!'

'Oh no worries, my girl! And please, call me Imogen, we're all friends here!'

Clary left the office with a broad smile on her face ready to face the day. Excitement continued to boil through her veins as she practically danced down the halls to the Art Department to meet Mr Starkweather. This was it. Clary's First Job!

**AN: **I know you all want Jace and to be perfectly honest so do I (in a plethora of ways I won't go into) and I promise he's coming soon and you'll all get your fix, but certain things have to happen first. Patience grasshoppers! I hope Simon was a good enough addition to keep you all interested though. Bless I love that boy, I want him as my best mate, although the unrequited love thing in the books would be a little bit awkward :/ ah well, we'll see if Clary's relationship with him actually turns into anything in this story (I don't even know yet!) Anyway my lovelies, thank you for reading, see you next time!


	7. A Cause For Celebration

I know, I'm a terrible human being. I'm gonna stop wasting time with an unnecessary AN and just get on with the chapter I've left you guys waiting for for so long.

**A Cause For Celebration**

Clary's first week went by in a blur.

Her first day was exciting and terrifying but once she relaxed into it she couldn't help but love the environment. Nearly all of the kids were amazing, just so nice and friendly to talk to, and on the whole very talented. Mr Starkweather was a different story. Granted, he was an incredible artist, however his demeanor proved strict and a little harsh. When teaching, he kept the room almost completely silent, and barked at any student who appeared to be doing something wrong.

Of course, Clary thought this was ridiculous. In art, _nothing _is _wrong. _Picasso painted beautiful portraits but they didn't look like a photograph did they? To Clary, art is all about what the artist sees and interprets. If you see a face and can translate it onto a page as if it were a photograph then great! But if you see a face and see a jumble of shapes randomly pushed together and draw that, well that's great too!

Through her first week, Clary saw that Mr Starkweather (or Hodge. Who's called Hodge? I mean, _jeez_ what a name!) was probably the reason for the less-than-perfect Art Department. He was great and he taught great techniques but his own technique for teaching was, for want of a better word, crap.

This got Clary thinking about how she would run her own classroom. She would have a bright environment, a friendly and approachable demeanor and let the kids talk. Obviously she would control it so that the kids actually worked, not just spent the whole lesson chatting about their weekends, but Clary found at university that it was great to be in an environment where she didn't have to concentrate fully on the work at hand.

She would also get them trying different and possibly a little experimental things, like interpreting music in art form or getting the kids using different methods of creating art other than just the standard paint brush and pencil. Yes, there was a curriculum to stick to, however there was far more than just one way to achieve a brief in an art assessment.

The staff room was an interesting experience, and for the first few days she was sort of this new shiny thing that everyone wanted to meet and talk to and discuss teaching methods with. In general the teachers that she had met were awesome and were super interested in her ideas for the Art Department. She was kind of excited to talk to Imogen about them, but she felt as if she hadn't been there long enough to start changing things up.

On the Thursday, Clary's routine had mostly settled. She would walk to Java Jones for coffee and a chat with Simon before work, get to school and say hi to everyone before first lesson started. She would then get to class and help out (needless to say she was quite popular with the students compared with Hodge) until recess when she would attempt to get Hodge on board with some of her ideas for the department over a cup of herbal tea. At lunchtime she would walk in after helping all the kids put away their artwork, say hi to everyone and then go and sit with Jia Penhallow, a history teacher with whom Clary had made friends.

Jia was similar to Clary. They read similar books, they had the same sense of humour and they were passionate about their subject. Jia was a little older than Clary (perhaps early forties, but she didn't like to hazard a guess) but nonetheless they got on like a house on fire. They spent most of their lunch hour chatting away whilst Jia marked her students' work and Clary doodled mindlessly. Clary hoped that in the not-too-far future she would be marking kids' work too.

Friday was a long day. Perhaps it was because Clary hadn't worked a full week since she had been at school, but it was most likely to do with the fact that after school that day, she'd meet with Imogen to discuss her ideas for the Art Department and whether or not she'd be teaching by herself on Monday.

The classes were still cool and the kids were still amazing, but Clary was feeling a little nauseated all day. Hodge was as grumpy as usual (although according to Imogen, despite the fact that he thought Clary had some 'radical ideas', he approved of her) and she spent her lunch hour joking around with Jia. As the clock ticked closer to 3pm, Clary was getting more and more agitated. She wasn't exactly scared or particularly excited, but she had trouble with nerves when it came to talking about herself.

When she found herself in Imogen's office once more, she was instantly calmed. Ms Herondale seemed to have a certain relaxing air about her that put your worries to ease. For a head teacher, she was remarkably easy to talk to.

'Clary, my dear!' she exclaimed as Clary walked in. 'How has your week been?'

'Fantastic!' Clary replied honestly. She was 100 per cent sure that being an art teacher was exactly what she wanted to be doing with her life. 'The kids are amazing and I love what we get to teach them!'

'Oh I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Does this mean you are ready to lead your own classes? Be a teacher without any assistance? Of course, the classes will be split between you and Hodge, so there should only be about 15 students in your classes should you choose to.'

'Yes of course! I'd love to!' Clary cried. She hadn't been this happy since university if she thought about it. The last couple of months had sucked completely but things were finally going right for her, and it felt great! 'But I do have some ideas about some changes to the department…' she added carefully, worried suddenly that everything she'd hoped to bring to the school would be shot down.

Clary explained her ideas and Imogen couldn't have been happier to hear her suggestions. In fact, she insisted in her beautifully enthusiastic manner that Clary was to start changing things up the moment she walked in on Monday morning. Students' work would cover the Art Department walls in no time, and they'd be having fun whilst creating instead of being in dead silence.

On the whole, Clary was ecstatic.

To celebrate the occasion, she texted Magnus and Alec explaining she was going to cook a feast for them all. Although she lived with his boyfriend, Clary felt like it had been ages since she had hung out with Alec. He'd been busy with a job and Magnus's deadline for his Vogue portfolio was Monday, so he'd been working harder than usual this past week. This was how she suddenly became overcome with the need to chill with her friends.

Clary burst through the apartment door, exhausted after lugging 3 massive grocery bags up the building's stairs and shouted a 'Honey, I'm home!' to anyone who may be in the flat. Three seconds later she is being tugged into a hug by Alec, who then helps her to the kitchen with her bags.

'How are you?!' Alec enthused, 'It feels like years since I've seen you!'

'Its only been a week! But I do know how you feel,' Clary replied with a smile. 'I've got so much to tell you! But that can wait for dinner.'

'So what is for dinner?' Alec asked.

'Tonight, my friend, we shall feast on a Tex Mex banquet! I'm gonna make nachos and fajitas and tacos and margaritas and its gonna be great!'

'Mmmm sounds good, can I help at all?' Alec asked.

'Nah, you're good, I'll shout when it's ready.'

'Cool ok,' Alec replied, 'Oh, and just so you know, Tessa's here as well, she's helping Magnus out with some last minute alterations.'

'Awesome! It will be so good to see her again!' Clary hadn't seen Tessa since when she used to hang out with Magnus at uni. The three would chill in Magnus's room chatting about the hottest boys on campus and other general gossip, though Clary and Tessa sort of lost contact after Tessa graduated. Well, Clary sort of lost contact with everyone when she graduated so she can't judge.

Alec wandered into the living room, leaving Clary to cook in peace, presumably to attempt to beat Clary's high score on his favourite video game. Magnus and Tessa were probably beavering away in Magnus's fashion room so Clary decided not to disturb them until the food was ready.

Once everything was ready and laid out on the kitchen table, Clary did what she did best and yelled the house down alerting the residents of this fact. Alec came in from the living room and Tessa followed Magnus out of the fashion room. As soon as she saw Clary she rushed over to envelop her in a hug. (A bit of an awkward hug at that, seeing as Tessa was considerably taller than Clary, but a lovely one nonetheless.)

'Clary! I haven't seen you in forever! How are things?' Tessa asked as she grabbed a plate.

'Really great, actually! Mostly thanks to these guys,' she replied, gesturing in Magnus and Alec's general direction. 'They've really made the last few months totally awesome! Also, today I was told I get to be a real teacher in charge of my own classroom on Monday! I'm so excited! But anyway, how are things for you?'

'Clary that's amazing! I'm so happy for you!' Tessa beamed at her long lost friend and her congratulations were echoed by the boys. 'And things for me are good too, thanks!'

'Yeah? I heard you're engaged! I'd say that's pretty awesome,' Clary mentioned. She was so happy to be catching up with a good friend she hadn't seen in so long.

'Yeah, he's amazing! I actually met him at work…' Tessa started, until Clary covered her face with her hands.

'Oh God! It's been so long I don't even know where you work!' Clary groaned, feeling bad for being so out of the loop.

'New York Library, (**AN:** I don't know if this is a thing, so if it's not then pretend it is, for me?) Will and I met there and bonded over our love of literature, I guess,' Tessa said with a small smile and the hint of a blush on her cheeks. She looked so besotted even when she just talked about him, it was adorable really.

'Awww!' Clary squealed and Alec rolled his eyes.

To move the conversation on to a less high pitched, girly one, Magnus decided to speak up.

'Is the high-pitched girly bonding session over yet? Because I have some exciting news,' Magnus said with a teasing lilt to his tone.

'Oooh! What is it?' Clary exclaimed, but it seemed again like she was the only one not in the loop, as Alec and Tessa were looking at her as if excited for her reaction.

After a pause for effect, Magnus answered.

'I, as of approximately ten minutes ago, finished my portfolio for Vogue!' he exclaimed, doing a little celebratory dance that brought a giggle to the lips of all the people in the room.

'Magnus that's fantastic!' Clary cried, super proud of her sparkly friend. She poured everyone a margarita and held her glass in the air. 'TO MAGNUS!' she exclaimed heartily and everyone else joined in and clinked glasses.

Once everyone was settled and digging into the Mexican feast that Clary had prepared, something occurred to her.

'Mags, are you going to have to present the clothes on a catwalk?'

'Uh yeah, why?' he asked, confused.

'Well, you're gonna need a practice run right! Will you show me you're stuff with Alec and Tessa after dinner?' she asked, hopeful.

'Wait, what?!' Alec piped up, suddenly a little panicked.

'What?' It was Clary's turn to be confused. 'I just assumed that seeing as you guys are the ones Magnus used as models, you'd be the ones modeling the clothes for the guys at Vogue…' she trailed off as Alec's face got more and more worried.

'That wasn't in the job description! I don't know how to mode, or do the stupid walk and the uncomfortable and unrealistic poses! God, Magnus- just, what?' Alec blurted out, clearly freaking out.

'Hey, hey, calm down Alexander,' Magnus reached over and put his hand on Alec's knee in an attempt to reassure his boyfriend. 'Look at me, please?'

Alec looked reluctantly; his fists balled either side of his plate.

'I never expected you to come to Vogue with me. I wouldn't do that to you, you should know that. When I asked you to model for me, it was literally just to fix up my designs. On Monday I am going to Vogue headquarters. It will literally be full to the brim with models, and there will be one with the same measurements as you. They wont be nearly as good looking, which is a shame, but it will do. Please calm down, cupcake, you don't have to model in front of the Vogue people okay?'

Alec visibly relaxed at Magnus's words, and smiled sheepishly back at him.

'Would you mind awfully to model Magnus's stuff for me later? Its just me, I'm not scary Vogue people, and besides you've done it before!' Clary asked cheekily, but hope laced her tone. She would really love to see Magnus's designs worn by the ones they were made for.

It took the whole of dinner to get Alec to agree to show Clary Magnus's designs. He eventually relented, because he figured that if he agreed, this would be the last time he'd ever have to model, but if he didn't, Clary would find a way to get him to show her at a later date. Tessa was completely up for it, stating that Magnus's clothes made her feel elegant and she loved that.

The evening passed quickly, with more catching up, reluctant modeling and more margaritas than any of them cared to admit. This was nice. Clary would never have guessed that this soon after the worst moment of her life so far, she'd be this happy. She had amazing friends and an amazing job and everything was going brilliantly. She hoped this stroke of good luck would not end any time soon.

**AN:** hey there beautifuls, _I am so_ _completely and terribly sorry_. This chapter has been a complete bitch to write, I've re-written it and re-written it so many times and I'm still not happy with it, it's a total filler, but I promise exciting things are going to happen in the next chapter. (Also, I made Will the fiancé because the only response I got when I said you guys could make your minds up about who Tessa is with in this story was from an anon that said 'Will') Anyway, see you next time guys, please don't forget to review.


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